E-Sports Practices Get Boost With Teen's Fortnite Win
The fledgling e-sports bar cheered the media exposure—and the dollars—stirred up by the Fortnite World Cup.
August 05, 2019 at 10:16 AM
4 minute read
By now you may have heard of 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf, aka “Bugha.” The Pennsylvania teen won $3 million last weekend for coming out on top in the solo competition for the first-ever Fortnite World Cup. And if you have kids, you’ve probably heard of Fortnite, the online video game with a massive global playing audience.
The tournament—with prize money that exceeded The Masters, The PGA Championship and nearly matched the U.S. Open—helped bring e-sports further into the mainstream. And for the year-old Esports Bar Association, and for the few large law firms that have established e-sports practices, the attention is most welcome.
E-sports have a growing, dedicated following and a marketplace that is poised to surpass $1 billion this year, representing 27% year-over-year growth in valuation and more than double its sub-$500 million valuation from 2016. But the industry is still getting its footing, and while large firms, including Nixon Peabody, Carlton Fields and Greenberg Traurig, have launched dedicated e-sports practices, for the most part the fledgling industry is being represented by smaller, specialty firms that have spent time developing relationships with players, publishers and team owners.
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